PM disqualification case: SC rejects plea seeking recusal of Justice Khawaja

PTI leader's request for judge's exclusion on the bench rejected due to 'contemptuous language' in application

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has rejected a plea of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking the recusal of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja from the prime minister’s disqualification case.

Justice Khawaja is currently heading a three-member bench hearing the case regarding the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over allegedly making a 'false statement' in Parliament.

On October 1, PTI leader Ishaq Khan Khakwani, through his counsel Irfan Qadir, moved an application in the apex court, requesting that Justice Khawaja recuse himself from the case.

However, The Express Tribune has learnt that the SC registrar’s office rejected the PTI leader’s plea for the recusal, stating the “application contains contemptuous language”.

With the bench set to take up the disqualification case tomorrow (Tuesday), Khakwani moved another application today, challenging the SC’s objection over his plea for recusal.

The fresh application contended that the SC registrar did not mention the parts in the earlier application that they termed contemptuous. “In the absence of such a mention, the impugned order (registrar order) is devoid of the grounds or the legal foundations on which the same could be passed in law,” it states.

Further, the applicant stated that keeping in view the circumstances, he filed the plea for recusal in the best interest of justice.

He went on to argue that his application did not include anything that could be termed contemptuous since the relevant documents which go on to establish the contents of the recusal application are appended.

Khakwani told The Express Tribune that they have requested the court to hear his plea for the recusal of Justice Khawaja from the bench tomorrow (Tuesday) once again.

He went on to elaborate on his party's reservations over the senior judge’s inclusion in the bench for the case. According to him, the reservations were further fortified when on September 29, when the PM’s disqualification came up for hearing Justice Jawwad expressed his displeasure that the case was called but the applicant was not present in court.

“This unexpected and uncalled for unpleasantness coupled with the facts has made it all the more necessary for the applicant to seek recusal of Justice Jawad S Khawaja from the titled case,” Khakwani said in his application.

The application also stated that it was also a well-known fact that members of the bench and the bar had expressed reservations over some of Justice Khawaja’s judgments

“The applicant is aware that he cannot choose his own judge; however, the applicant has the right to object to a particular judge when there is serious apprehension on his part that justice may not be done or the applicant may not get a fair trial,” it said.